Osama bin Laden news
LEAKED emails suggest the former world's most wanted man was not buried by sea. So, what exactly happened to Osama bin Laden?
In a Stratfor email reportedly released by Anonymous and WikiLeaks, Osama bin Laden is rumoured to have been flown to the US for cremation at a secret site.
The al-Qaeda boss was supposed to have been buried at sea off the USS Carl Vinson after he was killed in a Navy SEAL raid on May 2, 2011.
Russia reports bin Laden's body was instead transported to Delaware on a CIA plane, then to Maryland.
The email purportedly claims that Stratfor's intelligence vice-president Fred Burton says bin Laden's body was "bound for Dover, [Delaware] on [a] CIA plane... onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda [Maryland]".
"If body dumped at sea, which I doubt, the touch is very Adolph Eichman like," Burton wrote in another email referring to the Nazi Holocaust mastermind whose was caught, cremated and dumped at sea.
"But i dont know anyone who claimed he wasnt eicjhman," Stratfor CEO George Friedman replied.
"No comparison with suddenly burying him at sea without any chance to view him which i doubt happened."
WikiLeaks released 2.7 million emails from Stratfor, a private intelligence company described as "Shadow CIA", last week.
Defence Force culture Commodore Bruce Kafer
THE blokey and closed culture of Australia's military will be challenged following the release of frank and damning reports into the Defence Force Academy.The Defence Force has been jolted by a top-level assessment of poor “short-falls in performance” and the understated conclusion that: “We are not uniformly good”.
Consumption of alcohol by military people is “deeply embedded” and action has been taken to increase prices of drinks available to cadets in academies.
The Defence Force will attempt to leave one of its most notorious incidents behind it with the reinstatement of the Defence Academy commandant who was stood down after claims he mismanaged the Skype sex scandal.
Commodore Bruce Kafer, who was forced to take other duties for almost 12 months, will return to his post this week.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith released six reports covering a range of aspects of military culture, including alcohol consumption and use of social media.
An independent examination of about 1000 abuse claims - from both men and women, dating back 60 years - found 775 “plausible” sexual abuse claims that should be acted on.
A future report will consider responses ranging from compensation for victims and a royal commission inquiry.
Mr Smith highlighted one report, Pathways to Change, which he called “a frank and sober assessment of the past” and a “positive way forward”.
It was prepared by Australia's top soldier, Defence Chief David Hurley, and Defence Department secretary Duncan Lewis.
“Recent events remind us that we need to ensure that our people display exemplary behaviour commensurate with the nation’s expectations, in and out of uniform, on and off duty,” the report said.
“It is all too apparent that we are not uniformly good. We do not consistently meet these high standards and more worryingly our culture has tolerated short-falls in performance.
“We cannot be entirely satisfied with all aspects of our current culture…
“Some people in our ranks do not live by the strong values readily accepted by the majority of our people.”
The official inquiry into the Skype sex scandal has caused some embarrassment by rejecting a range of allegations against Commodore Kafer, including that he did not offer counselling to a female cadet who had reported being sexually humiliated by male colleagues.
It is alleged that an 18-year-old female cadet was filmed having sex last March and that the footage was sent via Skype to six other cadets in a nearby room.
Criminal charges against two cadets are still being considered.
The female cadet went public with her allegations in April, which led to Mr Smith making critical comments about Commodore Kafer's response, in particular his decision to proceed with two minor unrelated disciplinary actions against the woman.
Andrew Kirkham QC was asked to investigate the management of the incident by senior academy officers and gave his report to Mr Smith in December.
Mr Kirkham rejected allegations in news reports that Commodore Kafer had ordered or advised the female cadet to “apologise to cadets in her division for having gone to the media”.
He found the woman had been offered counselling by the academy.
And the investigation also rejected claims the woman had been verbally abused by a sergeant and by other by cadets. It found that her room had not been plastered with shaving cream.
The report also found Commodore Kafer was justified in proceeding with unrelated disciplinary charges against the female cadet.
However, Mr Smith maintained his criticism of Commodore Kafer. “The inquiry also found that it would have been a reasonable course of action to not commence and conclude the disciplinary proceedings.”
He said it was not correct to take action that could reflect on the character of a person claiming to have been sexually abused.
Barack Obama Rejects US Military intervention to Syria
President Barack Obama has described the situation in Syria as "heartbreaking" but said that unilateral US military intervention there would be a mistake.
Mr Obama said President Bashar al-Assad would fall, as other dictators had fallen, but the US would try to achieve this by working to isolate Syria.
More deadly clashes were reported across Syria on Tuesday.
The international community remains divided on how to end violence there.
The UN says more than 7,500 people have died as a result of the violence in Syria over the past 12 months.
McCains call
In his first news conference of 2012, Mr Obama warned his critics not to forget the cost of war.
He rejected a comparison to Libya, saying Syria was more complicated.
In Libya, where rebels backed by Nato air strikes ousted longtime leader Col Muammar Gaddafi after an uprising lasting several months, the US had "the full co-operation of the region," the president said.
"The notion that the way to solve every one of these problems is to deploy our military, that hasn't been true in the past, and it won't be true now," said Mr Obama.
"We've got to think through what we do through the lens of what's going to be effective - but also through what's critical for US security interests."
On Monday, US Senator John McCain - Mr Obama's opponent in the 2008 presidential election - called for US air strikes against Syrian forces.
Syrian security forces continued shelling rebel-held towns on Tuesday, activists said, as President Assad vowed to continue fighting "terrorism".
A boy and five soldiers were reportedly killed as troops launched an assault on the southern town of Herak, a base of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Aid kept out
The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), a network of Syrian activists, said 35 people were killed by security forces across Syria on Tuesday.
Twenty-three people died in Homs, it said, including 13 members of two families, who were allegedly killed with knives by security forces personnel and pro-government militiamen in the Baba Amr district.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Red Crescent are still being prevented from entering Baba Amr.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said that more than 1,500 people, mostly women and children from in and around Homs, have crossed the border into Lebanon to escape the violence.
The UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos is due to arrive in Damascus on Wednesday.
She said her aim was to "urge all sides to allow unhindered access for humanitarian relief workers so they can evacuate the wounded and deliver essential supplies".
The United States says it is proposing a new UN Security Council resolution on Syria.
Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the council held talks at UN headquarters on Tuesday, along with Morocco, representing Arab countries.
Russia and China have vetoed two previous resolutions, saying they were unbalanced and only demanded the government stop attacks.
Russia has made it clear that its position on Syria has not changed since Vladimir Putin was re-elected as president at the weekend.
In a Stratfor email reportedly released by Anonymous and WikiLeaks, Osama bin Laden is rumoured to have been flown to the US for cremation at a secret site.
The al-Qaeda boss was supposed to have been buried at sea off the USS Carl Vinson after he was killed in a Navy SEAL raid on May 2, 2011.
Russia reports bin Laden's body was instead transported to Delaware on a CIA plane, then to Maryland.
The email purportedly claims that Stratfor's intelligence vice-president Fred Burton says bin Laden's body was "bound for Dover, [Delaware] on [a] CIA plane... onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda [Maryland]".
"If body dumped at sea, which I doubt, the touch is very Adolph Eichman like," Burton wrote in another email referring to the Nazi Holocaust mastermind whose was caught, cremated and dumped at sea.
"But i dont know anyone who claimed he wasnt eicjhman," Stratfor CEO George Friedman replied.
"No comparison with suddenly burying him at sea without any chance to view him which i doubt happened."
WikiLeaks released 2.7 million emails from Stratfor, a private intelligence company described as "Shadow CIA", last week.
Defence Force culture Commodore Bruce Kafer
THE blokey and closed culture of Australia's military will be challenged following the release of frank and damning reports into the Defence Force Academy.The Defence Force has been jolted by a top-level assessment of poor “short-falls in performance” and the understated conclusion that: “We are not uniformly good”.
Consumption of alcohol by military people is “deeply embedded” and action has been taken to increase prices of drinks available to cadets in academies.
The Defence Force will attempt to leave one of its most notorious incidents behind it with the reinstatement of the Defence Academy commandant who was stood down after claims he mismanaged the Skype sex scandal.
Commodore Bruce Kafer, who was forced to take other duties for almost 12 months, will return to his post this week.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith released six reports covering a range of aspects of military culture, including alcohol consumption and use of social media.
An independent examination of about 1000 abuse claims - from both men and women, dating back 60 years - found 775 “plausible” sexual abuse claims that should be acted on.
A future report will consider responses ranging from compensation for victims and a royal commission inquiry.
Mr Smith highlighted one report, Pathways to Change, which he called “a frank and sober assessment of the past” and a “positive way forward”.
It was prepared by Australia's top soldier, Defence Chief David Hurley, and Defence Department secretary Duncan Lewis.
“Recent events remind us that we need to ensure that our people display exemplary behaviour commensurate with the nation’s expectations, in and out of uniform, on and off duty,” the report said.
“It is all too apparent that we are not uniformly good. We do not consistently meet these high standards and more worryingly our culture has tolerated short-falls in performance.
“We cannot be entirely satisfied with all aspects of our current culture…
“Some people in our ranks do not live by the strong values readily accepted by the majority of our people.”
The official inquiry into the Skype sex scandal has caused some embarrassment by rejecting a range of allegations against Commodore Kafer, including that he did not offer counselling to a female cadet who had reported being sexually humiliated by male colleagues.
It is alleged that an 18-year-old female cadet was filmed having sex last March and that the footage was sent via Skype to six other cadets in a nearby room.
Criminal charges against two cadets are still being considered.
The female cadet went public with her allegations in April, which led to Mr Smith making critical comments about Commodore Kafer's response, in particular his decision to proceed with two minor unrelated disciplinary actions against the woman.
Andrew Kirkham QC was asked to investigate the management of the incident by senior academy officers and gave his report to Mr Smith in December.
Mr Kirkham rejected allegations in news reports that Commodore Kafer had ordered or advised the female cadet to “apologise to cadets in her division for having gone to the media”.
He found the woman had been offered counselling by the academy.
And the investigation also rejected claims the woman had been verbally abused by a sergeant and by other by cadets. It found that her room had not been plastered with shaving cream.
The report also found Commodore Kafer was justified in proceeding with unrelated disciplinary charges against the female cadet.
However, Mr Smith maintained his criticism of Commodore Kafer. “The inquiry also found that it would have been a reasonable course of action to not commence and conclude the disciplinary proceedings.”
He said it was not correct to take action that could reflect on the character of a person claiming to have been sexually abused.
Barack Obama Rejects US Military intervention to Syria
President Barack Obama has described the situation in Syria as "heartbreaking" but said that unilateral US military intervention there would be a mistake.
Mr Obama said President Bashar al-Assad would fall, as other dictators had fallen, but the US would try to achieve this by working to isolate Syria.
More deadly clashes were reported across Syria on Tuesday.
The international community remains divided on how to end violence there.
The UN says more than 7,500 people have died as a result of the violence in Syria over the past 12 months.
McCains call
In his first news conference of 2012, Mr Obama warned his critics not to forget the cost of war.
He rejected a comparison to Libya, saying Syria was more complicated.
In Libya, where rebels backed by Nato air strikes ousted longtime leader Col Muammar Gaddafi after an uprising lasting several months, the US had "the full co-operation of the region," the president said.
"The notion that the way to solve every one of these problems is to deploy our military, that hasn't been true in the past, and it won't be true now," said Mr Obama.
"We've got to think through what we do through the lens of what's going to be effective - but also through what's critical for US security interests."
On Monday, US Senator John McCain - Mr Obama's opponent in the 2008 presidential election - called for US air strikes against Syrian forces.
Syrian security forces continued shelling rebel-held towns on Tuesday, activists said, as President Assad vowed to continue fighting "terrorism".
A boy and five soldiers were reportedly killed as troops launched an assault on the southern town of Herak, a base of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Aid kept out
The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), a network of Syrian activists, said 35 people were killed by security forces across Syria on Tuesday.
Twenty-three people died in Homs, it said, including 13 members of two families, who were allegedly killed with knives by security forces personnel and pro-government militiamen in the Baba Amr district.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Red Crescent are still being prevented from entering Baba Amr.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said that more than 1,500 people, mostly women and children from in and around Homs, have crossed the border into Lebanon to escape the violence.
The UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos is due to arrive in Damascus on Wednesday.
She said her aim was to "urge all sides to allow unhindered access for humanitarian relief workers so they can evacuate the wounded and deliver essential supplies".
The United States says it is proposing a new UN Security Council resolution on Syria.
Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the council held talks at UN headquarters on Tuesday, along with Morocco, representing Arab countries.
Russia and China have vetoed two previous resolutions, saying they were unbalanced and only demanded the government stop attacks.
Russia has made it clear that its position on Syria has not changed since Vladimir Putin was re-elected as president at the weekend.
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